Rush Limbaugh was an American conservative radio broadcaster, political analyst, author, media personality, and former television show anchor. At his death, he had a net worth of $600 million.
He was best known as the presenter of his long-running radio show, The Rush Limbaugh Show, which aired on FM and AM radio stations nationwide from 1988 until his death. Rush died of severe lung cancer on February 17, 2021, at 70.
Rush Limbaugh Highlights of the Salary and Contract
Rush was one of the highest-paid radio broadcasters globally for about two decades, owing to his 15+ million weekly listeners.
He made around $85 million per year during his peak years through salary, incentives, profit participation, and personal appearance fees.
Limbaugh Rush got an eight-year contract for $285 million in 2001, at $31.25 million per year. Limbaugh signed a $400 million, eight-year deal with Clear Channel in 2008. This equated to a $50 million base wage.
Limbaugh extended his 2008 contract by four years on August 2, 2016. Rush made $85 million from his radio empire between June 2018 and June 2019, making him the world’s second-highest-paid radio broadcaster (behind Howard Stern). Limbaugh renewed his contract once again on January 5, 2020.
Rush Limbaugh Childhood
Rush Limbaugh was born Rush Hudson Limbaugh Jr. and Mildred Carolyn (Armstrong) Limbaugh in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on January 12, 1951. His father was an attorney and a World War II American fighter pilot.
Limbaugh was a football player at Cape Girardeau Central High School. He began his radio career at the age of 16 at KGMO-AM, a small Cape Girardeau radio station.
He went under the alias Rusty Sharpe. He attended Southeast Missouri State University after graduating from high school in 1969. He dropped out after two semesters since he was solely interested in radio.
Rush Limbaugh Career
Rush Limbaugh, then 20, was hired as a DJ at the Top 40 station WIXZ-AM in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, in early 1971 after dropping out of college. He broadcasted as “Bachelor Jeff” Christie for a time in the afternoons before being promoted to the morning drive position.
After eighteen months, Limbaugh was sacked from WIXZ in 1973 owing to a “personality dispute” with the station’s program director. He subsequently began working nights at Pittsburgh’s KQV-AM.
Limbaugh was fired in late 1974 when new management pressured the program director to do so.
Limbaugh began doing an afternoon program at Kansas City, Missouri’s Top 40 station KUDL in 1975. He quickly rose to prominence as the host of a public service discussion show that aired on Saturday mornings, allowing him to hone his manner and promote increasingly provocative ideas.
He was fired from the station in 1977 but stayed in Kansas City to begin an evening program at KFIX. However, his tenure was brief, as disputes with management resulted in his departure weeks later.
Limbaugh had lost faith in radio and felt compelled to find a different profession by this point. He accepted a part-time group sales position with the Kansas City Royals baseball team in 1979, which developed into a full-time position as director of group sales and special events based at Royals Stadium.
Limbaugh returned to radio in November 1983 with a one-year stint at Kansas City’s KMBZ-AM. He chose to abandon his on-air alias in favor of broadcasting under his real name.
He was let go from the station but weeks later landed a job on Sacramento, California’s KFBK-AM. On October 14, 1984, the show premiered.
Limbaugh began a new program at WABC-AM in New York City in July 1988, after his success in Sacramento attracted the attention of former ABC Radio President Edward McLaughlin.
He debuted shortly after the Democratic National Convention and before the Republican National Convention. In New York City, Limbaugh’s radio home was the talk-formatted WABC (AM), which remained his flagship station for many years, even after Limbaugh relocated to West Palm Beach, where he continues to air his show.
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Rush Limbaugh Private Life
Limbaugh has been married four times and divorced three times. He is not the father of any children. He married Roxy McNeely, a secretary at Kansas City, Missouri radio station WHB, in 1977, when he was 26 years old.
In March 1980, McNeely filed for divorce, alleging incompatibility. He married Michelle Sixta, a college student, in 1983. In 1990, they divorced. Marta Fitzgerald, a 35-year-old aerobics instructor, married him in 1994. In 2004, they divorced. He married Kathryn Rogers in June 2010.
Limbaugh has been a resident of Palm Beach County since 1996.
Limbaugh admitted to being addicted to pain drugs in 2003 and sought therapy. Limbaugh surrendered to police in April 2006, following the issuance of a warrant by the Palm Beach County state attorney’s office, and was detained “on a single allegation of prescription fraud.” Later, his record was wiped.
He is well-known for his humanitarian activity, including a telethon benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Residential Real Estate
Rush spent his last years mostly in a $26 million beachside mansion in West Palm Beach. The residence features seven bedrooms, twelve bathrooms, and an elevator. He also possessed a penthouse property on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.